Mallahan hits McGinn hard over viaduct tunnel change

Last week Mike McGinn’s Seattle mayoral campaign launched robocalls telling voters that opponent Joe Mallahan was “siding with the NRA (National Rifle Association)” because he doesn’t fully support Greg Nickels’ ban of guns on most municipal property. The calls were a low blow. Mallahan, whose exact policy positions can sometimes be difficult to divine (see his flip/flops on Mercer Street project funding) talks tough on gun control but doesn’t think Nickels’ gun ban is practical. He’s right about that.

On Tuesday Mallahan delivered a roundhouse of his own – releasing an advertisement excoriating McGinn for saying Monday that while he still personally opposed the tunnel replacement project for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, as mayor he would move forward with it because the City Council formally blessed the deal between Seattle, King County and the state. McGinn had made opposition to the viaduct tunnel the centerpiece of his campaign.

Mallahan’s ad asks: ‘So was he lying then or now?’

McGinn responded to The Seattle Times’ Emily Hefter, saying: “…in a democracy, a mayor doesn’t get to ignore legislation…(Mallahan) thinks he can buy an election… He attacks because he has absolutely no vision for the city.”

McGinn’s Monday announcement could certainly be a game changer. There were people who liked him but disliked his staunch opposition to the tunnel. Remove that, maybe they vote for former Sierra Club leader. But as Mallahan’s ad shows, his sharp change in tone can be spun more darkly.